Ian Moss - Ian Moss (2018) FLAC

Respected as one of Australia’s iconic musicians, Ian Moss delivers an unforgettable sound – not only as a telling soloist on guitar but especially with his silken voice, ringing with clarity and resonating with pure soul. While primarily recognised as an axeman of tenacity and sweet melodic sensibility, Ian’s distinctive vocal is the essential signature of his soulful, bluesy muse – as it has been since his first tentative foray into music during the early 1970s.

Born and raised in Alice Springs, Ian started playing guitar in local teenage bands but moved to Adelaide after failing one of his high school years, planning to repeat in the big city. Fate intervened when he answered an advertisement for a guitarist in a shop window in 1973, joining the band that was to become a legend in Australia and that made such an undeniable impact that they are now etched in the Australian music psyche forever. That band was Cold Chisel.

Moss has released five incredible and dynamic studio albums – The #1 and multi-platinum, Matchbook, Worlds Away, Petrolhead, Let's all Get Together and Soul on West 53rd.

2018 will bring a new chapter in Ian’s career as he releases the new self-titled studio album, his sixth, and heads to regional Australia armed with his acoustic guitar and incredible songs.

In 2007 he told the Sydney Morning Herald, "I haven't made my definitive album yet." Ten years later with his the self-titled Ian Moss, he might have just done that.

The new album is also Mossy's finest collection of songs since his multi-platinum, ARIA Award-winning solo debut, 1989's Matchbook. And it's his most personal record yet. Mossy co-wrote every song on the album, aside from My Suffering, a beautiful song which was written by his Cold Chiselbandmate and dear friend Steve Prestwich, who died in 2011.

"It means a lot to me that there's a little bit of Steve on this album," Mossysays.

There are other little nods to Cold Chisel: Charley Drayton - who joined Chisel after Steve's passing - plays on ten tracks. Don Walker's piano punctuates A Girl Like You, which name-checks one of Chisel's favourite haunts when they moved to Sydney in the '70s, the Manzil Room. And the album was produced by Peter Walker, who also produced Cold Chisel's self-titled debut in 1978.

Put simply, Ian Moss - known as Mossy to his legion of fans - is part of Australian music's soul. Originally from Alice Springs, he became one of the voices of Cold Chisel and a revered guitar hero. In 2014, Mossy's fellow musicians ranked him Australia's greatest guitarist in a News Corp poll.

A highlight of the album is the stunning soul ballad, Broadway, which Mossy wrote about missing his son, Julian when he's on the road.

Mossy co-wrote eight of the songs with Sydney singer-songwriter Sam Hawksley, who's now based in the US, where he's a member of the BoDeans.